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The Falcons didn’t play well. This was a trap game for them, playing a winless team at home after a rousing victory over the Saints. The 49ers couldn’t take advantage. I believe Mike Singletary is right; Alex Smith didn’t play that bad. He did make some mistakes and when does, he really gets punished for them. He played better than Matt Ryan.

Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson did mix up his personnel groups more than Jimmy Raye. On first and second down, Raye would go almost exclusively with either two tight ends or two running backs or both. Johnson often went with three receivers on those downs and saw the Falcons’ weakness in defending the run out of those formations, and he exploited it.

Vernon Davis was a beast against the Falcons.

There were times when Smith completely fooled the Falcons with play-action and no one came open down field. You just wonder about the receivers ability to get open. Here are some other observations.

-The defense put Patrick Willis near the line of scrimmage, unlike last week and that makes a difference. This defense just seems to play better when they are in an aggressive posture.

-Vernon Davis made a tremendous play carrying a linebacker 6 yards into the end zone on his slip screen for a touchdown. Anthony Davis made an athletic block on the cornerback on the play.

-On third down, offensive coordinator Mike Johnson went with two tight ends and two receivers. He would then split everyone out, sometimes that included running back Frank Gore.

-In the second quarter, Gore got to the outside on a run because of excellent blocks by Joe Staley, Josh Morgan and Moran Norris. However, Gore is fortunate he went out of bounds because Falcons safety William Moore slapped the ball from Gore’s grasp. If Gore was in the middle of the field, instead of out of bounds, it would have been a turnover.

-49ers are lucky Harry Douglas fell on his own just before the half, or he would have scored. He ran right through the 49ers secondary. Harry Douglas sounds like the name of a lounge singer, not an NFL wide receiver.

-Charles Davis and former 49ers defensive coordinator Jim Mora, the Fox color commentators, commented on the continuing battle coaches have with Smith’s mechanics, particularly with re-setting his feet.

-Steve Mariucci used to talk about how a quarterback has to constantly widen and then narrow his vision. He widens to see the field and to isolate where the defense is, then he narrows in order to throw an accurate pass. Smith has trouble at times widening his vision and seeing trouble spots. That’s why he threw his second interception. His vision wasn’t wide enough to account for safety William Moore.

-Isaac Sopoaga, who had a terrible game against Kansas City, redeemed himself. He constantly knocked back right tackle Tyson Clabo.

-Matt Ryan seems to have more vision than Smith. On third down in the red zone, Ryan didn’t throw the ball after Ray McDonald put a hand up in his throwing lane. Does Alex Smith do that?

-Vernon Davis was a beast in this game; he broke four tackles to get 3 yards on a screen pass in the third quarter.

-I question whether Chilo Rachal left with an injury. He simply stood on the sidelines after being replaced by Adam Snyder, and the series before Rachal whiffed on his third-down pass pro, which eventually caused Smith to throw the ball away.

-The 49ers got terrific running room every time they spread out the Falcons defense, which is something to keep in mind.

-Offensive coordinator Johnson had a real good feel for when the Falcons were going to blitz. He dialed up a seven men protection against a six-man blitz early in the third quarter, and Smith went deep to Michael Crabtree. Grimes interfered with him but the pass was thrown 5 yards out of bounds – an uncatchable pass, so the flag was picked up.

-The seventh step drop is a thing of the past. The 49ers hardly every use it.

-Smith had Josh Morgan open deep, but 95 beat Anthony Davis inside and he threw the pass just long. He was also leveled just after he threw it.

-There’s just no way Rachal should start again. Snyder is more athletic and doesn’t whiff.